Daniel123

Personally I use the Perform Plant Protein from Vivolife. They get third party labs to test each of their protein powders for heavy metals. Here is a list of tested whey protein powders that seem safe https://cleanlabelproject.org/protein-study-2-0/

I can't speak for smoking, but whenever I use strong rapé (the shamanic tobacco snuff they give you at ceremonies), it puts me into wildly different states of consciousness with highly diminished ego. It also has an interesting energetic component for me as well.

@WonderSeeker Thanks for the input, that is indeed a good question to ask. I think what bothers me most is having to be so secretive about it. It's not even really that I want to talk about psychedelics with others at length. But for example, when someone asks about my wweekend plans and I am going to do a session, I am forced to veil reality / lie about it. It feels like this pulls me out of alignment a bit and feels contracting, because I have to be careful not exposing part of myself to not get in legal trouble or societal trouble. But maybe this is just a worthwhile sacrifice that is necessary to do this kind of work.

How does Kriya Yoga compare with rhythmic breathwork / shamanic breathwork / holotropic breathing in terms of depth and intensity?

This is an interesting epistemiological problem. The alteration of neural activity and DMN regulation could just be a correlation. Maybe this is an effect rather than the cause of altered consciousness. For me the question is, what does it take to conclude the cause of the altered perception of reality? Does logic and rationality together with empirical data from the brain suffice or is it still guesswork at this point? It also depends on whether you look at it from a materialist or idealist viewpoint.

Thank you for your perspectives, that is really helpful! I'll take a look at these books, thanks!

Recently I noticed what a shame it is to not be able to be more open about psychedelic explorations with most other people in society. I guess this is kind of the nature of inner work in general and psychedelics specifically because of the illegality or stigma attached to them. For me, it feels pretty isolating having to hide this part of myself from most others around me. I am reading this book right now titled 'LSD and the mind of the universe' where the author also laments that all his deep explorations had to be kept hidden for most of his life and that conversations with colleagues and even friends started to fizzle out quicker and quicker the more deeply he went on with his experiences. How do you experience this, can you be open with friends, family, colleagues? Does it bother you at all if you can't be?

I saw this guy speak about 5MeO-DMT and he mentioned that taking 5-HTP in the evening after a dose will encourage re-activations.

Just tried it out for a bit, pretty cool! Thanks for sharing, did you create this yourself?

Maybe you could use a LSD test kit on it? What kind of similar substances are you thinking of? LSD-Prodrugs or something more derivative?

I work as a pharmacist

Sometimes the world looks fluid to me like on a small dose of LSD whenever I am really present. Everything seems less "solid" than it once did and more flow-like.

So I just recently came back from a 6-day men's retreat. I am not talking about the kind of Andrew Tate pickup be a manly man stuff, but a very loving, open space for men to share their experiences, scars and emotionally open up to each other about their challenges and struggles. I wanted to write a short review, because I don't see a lot of talk about this kind of thing and at least for me it gave a whole new understanding and sense of community, emotional openness, connection and vulnerability. I hope this will benefit someone. Structure of the retreat The retreat took place on Ibiza in a wonderful serene place on the island. There were 8 participants and another 6 staff members doing various jobs, so a very intimate, small group. The schedule included meditations, breathwork (holotropic and other), giving and receiving physical therapy to each other, a workshop on ancestral healing and three psychedelic ceremonies - 2x magic mushrooms (1,5g and 3g) and a hike with san pedro. Before the retreat In my spiritual journey, I feel like I overemphasized the feminine aspect a bit too much. Allowing and cultivating this feminine energy was very beneficial for me, but I felt like I lacked the more masculine energy and wanted to balance it out a bit. I didn't really know what to expect from this kind of retreat, but it just felt right to go. I also often feel quite isolated and like I don't fit in quite easily with groups - especially men's groups, so this was another challenge to myself to overcome this apprehension in this kind of setting. Inside the retreat In the beginning of the retreat, it was strangers aged 28 to 67 coming together in an interesting setting from widely different backgrounds. There was an atmosphere of carefully getting to know each other, but staying at a safe distance to each other physically and emotionally. After the first few rounds of personal sharing circles though, it became apparent, how similar the wound is that men share, expressing itself in various ways. Common themes were the feelings of being isolated, not being enough and not being able to live up to the expectations of those around them. There was also kind of a collective wound created by women, be it not being loved enough by the mother, being emotionally abused by a partner, the death of a long-term wife etc. I feel like this is part of being a man and almost nobody is openly admitting to feeling this way. Being able to share this so freely was such a relief in and of itself. But importantly, it was not about casting blame on women in any way, but recognizing the wound while also taking responsibility for healing. Over time, slowly the walls broke down more and more and everyone started sharing their innermost feelings, their pain, their traumas. It was okay to give a hug, to touch, to cry, to console, to talk and to deeply listen. This really transformed my view of what healthy masculinity looks like and what it is like to be part of a tribe, part of a brotherhood that formed such a strong bond over just six days. It is really astounding the connection you can build in such a short time if you dare to share and be vulnerable with others. The fact that no women were part of the group allowed everyone to freely talk about sensitive topics without any instinctual need for competition or fear of being judged by the other sex, so this was a really safe container. I feel like women naturally have this kind of space, and it is socially accepted, while for men it is very uncommon to have someone to share these things with openly. Sharing both mushroom ceremonies with the group was an intimate experience. Especially on the higher dose I felt the connection with the others so deeply and I did a lot of emotional purging while my own struggles came to the surface. The san pedro hike was very special for me as well. The cactus has such a subtle, masculine energy, it fit the occasion so well. Every step on the hike felt like a metaphor for growing up and finding my place in this world as a man. I really like this substance / plant. After the retreat I left the event with such renewed hope, connection and sense of belonging like I never felt before in my life. It also gave me a sense of direction for my life and what is really important to me. Sharing something that has been hidden deep inside of me with other men left me feeling lighter and like a burden has been lifted off my chest. I feel like I can become a better boyfriend / brother / man in the future and I will cherish this experience for a long time. I don't want to make this too long, so I will keep it at that. All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I really recommend it!

I feel this very strongly. I remember a spiritual teacher saying before giving his first teaching to a group of people: Take a moment to think about if you really want to go down this path for enlightenment. Because it will involve suffering and once you reach a certain point, you will have seen some things that won't let you turn back ever again.

I was very inexperienced at that time though, so don't let this deter you No ,not so far. They require sitting a few 10-day courses and some more prerequisites before going for a longer course. You can read about it here at the bottom of the page: https://www.dhamma.org/en/about/code